So, yesterday, I made some last minute Apple event predictions. I was wrong on everything. Sorta.

The one part I did get right is Apple’s move away from the numerical naming convention. They launched a ‘new’ iPad today, which is really just a mid-cycle revving of the internals of the device. It makes it fast enough to feel like a new devices, yes, but it’s still just swapping in newer parts for older parts. Everything else stays the same. It’s not a new number device, you know? And Apple can do that easily without marketing hassle because it’s just “iPad.” It is the same way they rev the internals of their computers as time goes by. There might be a new faster processor introduced that they can slide into last year’s laptop. There’s no event to monumentally launch it. Sometimes, there’s not even a press release. Apple just updates the specs on the website, and it’s done.

They can sort of do that now with iPads, even after just seven months. They’re not held back.

As for the iPad Mini, itself: $329 is too much to knock out Amazon and Google, but it’s plenty cheaper enough to attract some new buyers. It’ll be more attractive to schools, who don’t want to pay $399 or $499 for full-sized iPads. There’s likely a slight discount, too, for larger educational purchses. That’s huge, particularly as they continue to sell iBooks into schools.

So the iPad Mini will have its fans, but it won’t destroy the rest of the competition. Maybe next year they can unveil the retina iPad Mini (not “iPad Mini 2″) for $329 and lower this iPad Mini down to $249 or even $199 and wipe everyone out.

The best trick Apple pulled off today was in showing how ridiculously thin the new iMac is. It’s a great photographic trick. They were very careful to show it only from the one angle where you didn’t see the bulge behind it. Once you see that, the illusion is ruined.

What will I be buying? None of the above. I don’t need any of them, and I don’t get paid to be a tech pundit, so there’s no tax write-off. I’ll be getting an iPhone 5S in a year, probably, though. Can’t wait!